Cliff Stearns: “Martin, thank you for that overview. And, Dennis, thank you very much for that very impressive report. We appreciate…”

“Martin, thank you for that overview. And, Dennis, thank you very much for that very impressive report. We appreciate your leadership. You and Ken have given so much over the years for this golf tournament. I can only echo your remarks about the Statesmanship Awards Dinner, which will be held next year on March 21. All the programs we have described, of course, require both leadership and staff to implement. Our Association is blessed to have top people in both categories. I simply want to take this opportunity to thank our board of directors--over 30 former Members of Congress divided equally between the parties--for their active advice and counsel, and I really sincerely appreciate it. I also want to thank the many partners and supporters we have to make our programs possible. We are truly lucky to have assembled a group of corporations and foundations that believe in our work and make our success possible, and we very much value our partnership with them. Also, I would be remiss if I did not thank the other members of our Association's executive committee: our vice president, Martin Frost; our secretary, Tom Petri; our treasurer, Karen Thurman; and our past president, Barbara Kennelly. You have all made this Association a much stronger organization and much better than it was before, and I thank you, of course, for your time and energy. To administer all these programs takes a staff of dedicated and enthusiastic professionals.…”